Fallen Heroes, Risen Demons
by Rider Paladin
Summary: Collaboration with Lord Darkmoon: The dark side is ever present, ever vigilant, ever hungry. It is now getting a taste of what it craves most, the souls of the noble and righteous, and it won't stop with the Titans, not until it has the world in its grip.


**Disclaimer:** Teen Titans belongs neither to me, Rider Paladin, nor my esteemed colleague Lord Darkmoon. As neither of us is affiliated with DC Comics and DC Entertainment in any manner other than as consumers of their products, we make no money from this story whatsoever and are only doing this for fun.

**A/N:** There were too many problems with "Robin, the Homicidal Maniac," plus the title didn't really fit, so we're starting from scratch. The same basic plot, but with more internal consistency and better explanations of just what the hell is going on here. As before, the Titans will be heading for the dark side of the Force, proverbially and maybe literally speaking, but you'll have a better insight as to _why_ this time around. At least, that's the plan if we're able to stick with this long enough.

Of course, both Lord Darkmoon and I have our own individual palettes to work on, him with the revamp of "Scarlet Embrace" and his new "Titanic Overlord" story and me with my Spider-Man crossovers and "Onyx and Vampire." Nevertheless, we do strive to tell a halfway decent story here, and we sincerely hope we've accomplished that. On with the story!

**Fallen Heroes, Risen Demons**

**Chapter 1: Awakened Madness**

* * *

Robin stared in concern at his closest friend and second-in-command as she tore through her room looking for her lost item. Her look of panic burned into his mind like a red-hot poker, trying to find the item he already knew was missing from her ravaged room. This wasn't the homecoming he had wanted when they returned from their monthly trip to Starfire's home planet, Tamaran. He expected to return home to his bed and sleep off the long, tiring space-flight. But when they landed in the Vehicle Bay, Cyborg had immediately reacted and stormed to the closest computer console. He informed them all that someone had deactivated their security cameras and other functions, save for one: the new Biometric scanner that Cyborg had just finished installing before they left for their space trip.

The new scanner had been a sub-safety system that would silently activate when all other systems were lost. It would then report any biometric readings inside the Tower until the security system was restored. Cyborg had learned from the scanner that one person had entered the Tower, a large male from the scans and had made his way up to Raven's room.

"Do you have any idea who it was?" Robin asked.

"Judging by the measurements the scanner recorded, it's somebody well within Batman's dimensions . . . or Slade's," Cyborg replied grimly.

Raven dashed to her room upon hearing that, soon followed by the other Titans. They found her room was still in perfect order, but to Raven it would have seemed like her entire world had been shattered apart when she went to her dress counter.

"Oh, Azar...no...it's gone!" Raven mourned in fear.

"What is, friend Raven?" Starfire asked upon entering her room and floating over to her.

"My mirror! He stole my mirror!" Raven nearly shrieked at her, her powers making the tower shake.

"Your mirror?" Beast Boy asked. "You mean the mirror that's like a gateway to your mind, where everything you really feel is kept nice and cozy? That mirror?"

Raven looked ready to yell at the green elf but held back her sharp reply, and then began frantically searching her room, hoping that she still had it. But her search soon came to an end when she came across a flash drive with a red S mark on it on her bed stand.

"Let me see that," Robin said quickly, taking the flash drive from her and hurrying to his room to get his laptop. He returned with it and switched it on, then inserted the flash drive.

A video file appeared on the screen and Robin clicked play.

"_....Hello, Raven...this is your new master calling you," _said a familiar, arrogant voice.

On a small screen, a one-eyed black and orange metal mask appeared. _"I trust you had a pleasant trip in outer space. I hope you enjoyed it because that will be your last holiday you'll ever have again."_ He held up Raven's mirror and spun it idly in one hand. _"It took me awhile and much effort to hack into your tower's security cameras and even more to learn about this little vanity toy you have. What a delight it was to learn how much you rely on this mirror to control your powers."_ He chuckled briefly before a cold seriousness pooled over his visible eye. _"If you don't want this mirror and all your emotions lost forever, you will do as I say from this point on. And don't bother getting any of your friends to help out. If I so much as think they're looking for this, I'll do away with it and you'll never see it again. And I know Robin is also watching this, so don't even try aiding her...or you'll be the cause of her greatest misfortune..." _He narrowed his eye and leaned a fraction closer to the screen, as if looking down at Raven. _"I'll be waiting for your reply...my little bird."_

Robin's fists tightened in rage. '_The nerve of that son of a bitch!'_

Raven collapsed down on her knees, her face a blank, disbelieving one with lost, wetting eyes.

"Raven?" Beast Boy asked, not trusting his voice to say much more than that.

"He...He has me," Raven whispered. "Without my mirror, I'm a time-bomb waiting to happen..."

It was a rare sight for Raven to look so emotional, what's more Robin could count with one finger the number of times he had seen her cry, now he saw her cry once more and her sobs thundered in his ears. Starfire was the first to embrace Raven, holding the other girl tightly (but not too tightly) against her. The boys were beside themselves with despair, none of them knowing just what they could do to help Raven. One of those boys, however, was in the grip of a quiet fury that darkened his face even while his expression remained placid.

* * *

He silently left his grief-stricken teammates and stood out in the hallway, stalking back and forth before he finally found himself back in his room. If he was looking for solitude to think clearly, he was denied it as he could still hear Raven's cries of sorrow echo over and over in his mind, wrenching his heart until it felt ready to rip into pieces. He collapsed to the floor, trying to fight the tidal wave of sorrow thrashing his being. Suddenly, the tower shook as Raven's emotions lashed out and one of the paper articles he had pinned to his wall fell off and landed on the ground right in front of his face. In the article were an S and the silhouette of a familiar armored man.

"Slade..." Robin hissed venomously.

Everything had gone always gone wrong whenever that man appeared. He first tried to mess with him by planting destructive nano-machines in his friends to force him into being his apprentice, then he corrupted one of their closest friends into his pawn. Although, both ended in failure and that last one took his life, he returned from the dead as a pawn of a demon to bring about the end of the world, and now he was back and he once against had set his sights on Raven.

Something in his mind snapped right then, a little voice in his mind was repeating itself rapidly and raspy. _'....He's gone too far! He's gone too far!' _Robin clutched his head._ ' He has to be stopped. If he's not stopped here, who knows how far he'll go next time? Who knows if there'll even be a next time?'_

Robin's mind began to fill to bursting with images of the horrible things Slade could do to Raven, the horrible things he'd already done, and the horrible things Robin was dead certain he _would_ do if he had the chance. It went against everything he was taught and his own morals, but he finally knew what he must do to protect his friend and his teammates from the psychopath. He would end him....

The man was far too dangerous and intelligent to ever hope to keep imprisoned. He would find a way to hurt everyone even in his confinement, or begin plotting something far worse. He was a menace to the world, and he placed himself in the wrong position as Raven's tormentor.

Slowly from the floor, Robin stood up and stalked over to his closet. He grabbed some of his spare outfits and yanked them aside and slammed his palm against the back wall of his closest. A hidden door opened to reveal a workroom with a table and machinery far more superior than what they had about the tower. He stalked over to a single computer and switched it on, then punched up a file he had never wanted to see again. When it opened, it showed the blueprint schematics of a suit, more specific: The Red X suit.

It was going to need some serious modifications, particularly if he was going to do what he set out to do. The Red X suit was designed more as an infiltration-and-espionage device, useful for getting in and out of places quickly and quietly. The suit Robin was thinking of building now . . . would be designed more for lethality. He pulled up a holographic display of the suit on the table and began removing unneeded features from the hologram until he was left with just the bare essentials. He brought up another screen on the table and began running his fingers over different choices, stopping only when he felt the tower shake at the response of Raven's emotions, which fueled him with a heated fervor to complete his project.

Once he had finished with the design and equipment he desired, he walked over to the computer and set it to begin producing the suit. The table stretched out and mechanical arms descended from the ceiling to begin quick work on fashioning the suit. While it worked on that, Robin went over to a metal vault he had in the room. He put in the code to open the vault and carefully withdrew from it a cylinder filled with a red, glowing substance.

"I knew keeping some Zinothium would come in handy one day...but it's too hard to get this. Hmm, maybe it I purified it to its basic elements, I can work out the instability and extend the battery time for the suit," Robin murmured to himself with obsessive determination.

He set the cylinder in another machine that began separating the elements in the Zinothium and filling another cylinder with the purified element, which now shone a healthy blue from the deadly red it once was.

Half an hour later, both the power source and the suit were completed. He smirked wickedly in satisfaction and began discarding the outfit, which into the new suit. He donned the new costume, piece by piece, the design reminding him of something Starfire had once told him about the future she had visited. The only difference was that the bird symbol in question spread over his shoulders and back, and was colored gray. The mask was still a stylized death's head, with metallic internal reinforcement. The last piece was a modified grey utility belt in which he inserted its new power source and clicked it around his waist. The belt instantly activated the suit's mechanical functions and Robin flexed his arms and hands, feeling the benefits the suit would give him.

"Time for a reaper to deal final judgment..." Robin said with a darker, sinister voice thanks to the voice distorter in his mask.

He activated the suits cloaking option, rendering him invisible to the human eye and silently made his way out of his room and down the hallway, to Raven's room. He placed his fingertips on the door and touched his ear, activating the miniature microphones at the tips of his glove. He waited for a while, listening for any hint that his teammates were still in the room. Hearing nothing, he quickly snuck in and went to Raven's closet, where he took one of her cloaks, and then to his laptop where the flash drive was still inserted in it. Knowing the twisted cyclops, he would have left a signal or directions on how to contact him. He re-opened the flash drive and watched the video again, looking for any clues. As he predicted, Slade did leave one. In the background behind him was a construction sign, one that had been postponed due to lack of enough funds to finish construction.

_'Jackpot,'_ Robin thought. Just a little bit of triangulation, and . . . he smiled darkly beneath his mask. "Got you, you bastard."

He quickly switched off the flash drive, leaving the laptop as he found it in Raven's room, then took the spare cloak he took from Raven's closest and put it over himself. Then he brought up his right forearm, opening a concealed console and punched a few buttons. "Testing...Testing..." He kept saying until his distorted voice buzzed and changed to a perfect imitation of his grim teammate. "Testing....got it. Well, Slade, if you wanted a Titan to meet you tonight, you'll get one...just not the one you were expecting."

He made his way to the window and turned on his cloaking device and jumped without fear out of it. Right after he did, a figure in the shadows moved and Raven stepped out, gazing in wonder at the figure that had just invaded her room and disguised himself as her.

"...Robin? What are you doing?" Raven whispered to herself.

She didn't know what to make of the new suit or his actions, but everything felt wrong to her about it. Her empathic senses had detected a roiling malice of murderous intention radiating off of him and something twisted she never knew lay dormant in his soul. Whatever was going on, she would follow him --- and stop him from doing something he'd regret in the morning. She had been with the others in the common room, all trying to figure out how to get her mirror back, but in her state she could not think and was too upset to add her own thoughts on a plan. It was then that she realized that Robin had not been with them and had gone to look for him, but then as she past her room, she was startled to hear her own voice coming from her room and phased through the wall, into the shadows, to see who it was imitating her. Now she found Robin, in a new suit, pretending to be her, and leaving to confront Slade. Quickly, she enveloped herself in her soulself and disappeared into the darkness, using her empathy to track the murderous aura that radiated off Robin...

* * *

Far into the city at the abandoned construction site, a blue cloaked figure appeared from the darkness, standing out in the open and waiting. The figure did not have long to wait as a voice echoed out from nowhere. "I see you responded to my message rather quickly..."

"I want the mirror back, Slade," "Raven" demanded.

From behind one of the construction machines resting about the site, Slade stepped out into view and sauntered confidentially up to "Raven."

"Just like that? You think I will simply hand it over?" Slade mocked, eyeing "her" uncomfortably.

"If you want nothing bad to happen, yes," "Raven" said sternly.

Slade shook his head and chuckled in mild amusement. "I'm afraid it won't work that way. You will have to earn it back, and you will do everything I say, until I feel you have earned it."

"I always knew you were a sick fuck, Slade. Is this the way you talked to Terra when you 'trained' her?" "Raven" hissed.

Slade tilted his head, as though darkly amused. "Please. If the pleasures of the flesh were all I needed, I'd have gone elsewhere."

"Right, if that were the case then that look you're giving me wouldn't be telling me otherwise," "Raven" remarked bitterly. "You like control and you like power over others, and I imagine there isn't a greater thrill for you than to dominate your servants."

"A bit too perceptive for you, Raven," Slade murmured to himself curiously.

"Oh, you're right. It is too perceptive for Raven," "Raven" admitted. "But this conversation allowed me to analyze you to make sure you _were_ the real Slade, and not some drone copy you like to use so much."

Slade narrowed his eye right before his fist shot up to punch the fake Raven in the face. He wasn't surprised at all when the figure easily jerked her head to the side to avoid the punch and jumped back to a safe distance. "I never thought you were this idiotic, Robin. Doesn't the safety of your friend's emotions mean anything to you? By attacking me like this, I could just have her mirror destroyed right this moment!"

"If you did, you would have done so, Slade," Robin said as he pulled off the cloak to reveal his true identity to Slade, smirking darkly when he say the look of confusion in the mastermind's eye. "Like the suit? I hope you do...it's an upgrade from the Red X one I fashioned, but you'll quickly find that out in a moment. I call this new one...Deathwing."

"A bit too grim for your tastes, Robin," Slade sneered, leaning onto the balls of his feet and readying his fists. Something was off about Robin this time and he could just feel it. Whatever it was, it made him tense and warned him to take great precaution.

"My tastes have changed a little," Robin retorted. "But then, you never knew as much about me as you liked to think you did."

Slade was about to make a snide retort but was halted when Robin suddenly came at him straight on. He simply sidestepped out of the way and chuckled at the ease. He knew how impulsive Robin was and could easily use that to his advantage... until he heard a beeping sound residing from his boot.

He stared down in astonishment right before he quickly grabbed the explosive that had found its way on his leg and barely threw it before it exploded three feet from him. The force threw him back violently and he slammed into the side of a huge crane's tracked wheels.

"...You're taking this far too serious than normal, Robin," Slade said, trying to not let the pain touch his voice.

"Seriously enough," Robin retorted. "As seriously as I should have taken it to begin with."

He charged once more at Slade, pulling out a new kind of 'Bo Staff' from his Utility belt. He extended it out and at the top end, a buzzing blade of blue energy hummed to life. With the weapon ready in both hands, he brought it down, aiming as if to slice Slade right in half, which might had happened had Slade not reacted in time to pivot to the side, then watch in awe as Robin's weapon sliced the huge machine cleanly in half.

He jabbed the other end of the Bo Staff behind him, which two hummed to life as another buzzing blade of blue energy ripped to life. Slade had barely dodged it but he still felt the energy cut into his left forearm.

"So...After all that I tried to show you, make you into something more that you could be...it took blackmailing the quiet one to get you to reveal this side," Slade mused in dry humor. "What irony..."

"You wouldn't understand," Robin snapped. "I don't think you loved anything in your life!"

"You'd be surprised what I once loved," Slade retorted ominously.

"Yeah, your reflection," Robin hissed, swinging his deadly weapon's buzzing blades at Slade, twirling himself with the motion to building up more momentum and speed with his strikes.

At that time, Slade reached into his own belt and withdrew his own Bo Staff and used it to deflect Robin's attacks, careful to only let his weapon touch where the blades didn't extend to. They began exchanging blows but neither was able to get through his opponent's defenses, or so Slade was led to believe.

Had Slade paid attention to Robin's new suit more closely, he would have seen that the heels of his boots kept blinking as little discs were placed wherever he stepped, and he was mindful of never stepping in the same place twice.

When his heels stopped blinking, Robin smirked cruelly at Slade from behind his mask. "Time we ended this...once and for all, Slade."

"My boy, it will never be over....Arh!!" Slade screamed as something sliced his calf deeply.

He glared down and to his further amazement was being swarmed by miniature machines. As he looked closer, they resembled a kind of cybernetic crab, but in place of pincers, these had scythe-shaped blades...which they were using to cut into his legs.

"What the?" Slade roared in outrage and started batting them off him.

"Like them? I hope so, they're Surgical Drones that were just developed by S.T.A.R. Labs for deep tissue operations," Robin explained in a matter-of-fact tone. "I re-designed them so they'll begin operating on whoever activates them by stepping on them." He pointed to the ground under Slade which was now littered with small discs, some were already activating, extending six mechanical legs from underneath them and drew their blades, and then made their way toward Slade to join their fellow drones to slice into him.

Robin opened the console on his forearm, hitting a button to command the drones to latch their blades into Slade and stop. They did as he wanted with their blades deep in the mastermind's flesh. Robin then moved in and with great delight swung his Bo Staff carelessly over Slade's arm, completely slicing off his hand just above the wrist.

"I'll never allow you to lay a single finger on her, Slade...or anyone else ever again," Robin snarled, just before he sliced off Slade's other hand.

He ignored the man's screams as he put away his Bo Staff, only to draw another weapon, this one looked like a mere handle, until Robin activated it and a whip of crackling blue energy zipped out from it. He cracked it against the ground, sizzling and cutting into the rocky ground easily. "You planned to use Raven...You planned to make her yours!" Robin began ranting.

Slade glared at Robin. "Is someone jealous? And here I thought it was Starfire you loved."

"So did I...but that was until you made Raven cry," Robin hissed hatefully. "I'll never forgive you for that...and now, you're going to pay for each tear I watched her shed...you'll receive one lash from this Shock-Whip."

He reared his wrist back once and a flurry of lashes followed after that, each strike landing on various places on Slade, slicing through his armor and burning patches of skin and muscle off him.

This torture continued on and on...and from the shadows a very shocked and startled Raven was staring at the cruel scene.

_

* * *

_

'What's going on with him?'

she thought. _'I've never seen Robin act this way . . . so cruel, so vengeful . . . why?'_

_'Why?'_ another voice, this one sounding suspiciously like her father, repeated. _'For you, Raven. For you. He's doing this because Slade tried to hurt you, and now he'll make sure Slade never hurts you again.'_

_'But this --- this isn't like him!'_ Raven protested.

_'Maybe it's more like him than you'd like to admit,' _the voice challenged her._ 'Think about it. You've seen the insides of his mind.'_

She remembered all too well the workings of his mind when she mind-melded with him. So much agony and misfortune befell him when his family was murdered, even more followed when he chose to follow the same path as his mentor in fighting the injustice in Gotham. He was truly devoted to his friends, though closed somewhat to keep his fragile core form shattering again. He had a dark side to him that none of the others knew about, the side he had tried to keep hidden even from Starfire, his own girlfriend. But here he was, tormenting the man that had tormented them all, yet this time he was exposing that entire hidden part of him to kill the man before him.

'_...Is he killing Slade because he cares that much for my safety?'_ Raven thought in horror...and a creeping satisfaction.

_'Of course, you naive girl. A man as morally uptight as Robin would only forget his own rules for the one he truly desired,'_ that voice revealed. _'Only two things can make a human forget himself and do the outrageous, it's either for complete hatred...or absolute love.'_

She didn't, could not, believe that Robin would kill someone for love...it had to be the hatred she knew he held for the villain, but even as she could sense his anger, it wasn't of blind rage. This was different from any kind of rage she had sensed from Robin, this was a pure determination over the anger, and underneath it all a pulsing wave of devotion...

"Oh Azar..." Raven whispered in shock. "He...He really is killing Slade for me?!!"

She didn't know if she should feel sick or admiration that someone would go to such lengths to kill someone for her. It was wrong, even if he was doing it for her protection, nothing could change the fact that he was taking a human's life...and enjoy it?

As she watched him, she could hear a distinctive chuckle rising from Robin, a chuckle that made her pale skin shiver.

_'He's enjoying it?'_ Raven thought, shocked. _'He's enjoying killing Slade? How . . . is this even him anymore? No . . . something . . . something's wrong here. This isn't Robin!'_

_'No, this is the part of Robin he kept locked up!' _the voice cheered, and strangely it morphed from sounding like her father to her own, only darker and a hint husky. _'This is the part that you were drawn to, Raven. Don't deny it...this was the part that you longed to see in him, isn't it?'_

_'No! This isn't what I desire, why would I?'_ Raven shouted back in denial at the voice.

_Because this is the side only you have been allowed to see...the side that would have frightened off that redhead, leaving him all for you...'_ the voice whispered seductively.

_'Y-You're wrong...this isn't what I want...is it?'_ Raven protested to herself, hugging her arms around her and begin to sway some as a confused glaze clouded over her eyes.

_'It always was, my dear! Those pathetic monks brainwashed you, girl! They knew you would bring about the end...so they damaged you!' _the voice revealed.

_'D-Damaged?'_ Raven uttered.

_'Why do you think they worked so hard on keeping your emotions under constant lock and key? Why your own mother gave you that mirror you so desperately were made to rely on? It's a cage! Nothing more! They pulled and shattered your soul into those emoticons of you, you make you tame, controlled...nothing!'_ the voice said with complete outrage.

_'No!_ ' Raven denied. _'My mother loved me!'_

_'She feared you!'_ the voice countered. _'Do you ever remember her holding you when you were scared or confused? Did you see her smile when you achieved discipline over some of your more basic skills under the monks? NO! She would barely look at you, always was her back turned to you because she could not stand to see you. You were never her daughter. Just a tool used by a demon that used her to create you. Nothing more!'_

_'No! Please, stop...'_ Raven whimpered, falling to her eyes and clutching at her head. _'You're twisting things on me! She knew she could be attached to me because it would respond my emotions....and...and I'd hurt everyone!'_

_'Believe that, dear...keep believing the garbage they fed you and remain broken!'_ it hissed back at her._ 'Just remain in the controlled fantasy they and your mother placed in your head.'_

Raven tried as hard as she might to shut the voice up, but its logic struck her deep in her heart. The monk were always cold and offish to her. Her mother, in what little time she did spend with her, never once took her into her arms or gave her words of encouragement, only dismay and hopelessness. They knew her fate from a vision the high priest had when she was born, they knew she would be used by her father to bring about his arrival to earth...and none of them did anything to cling on that she could change that fate. She remembered when the monks would spend days with her, never really alone. They used their teachings to split her emotions into individual emoticons for 'easier' control, then by her own mother, she was given the mirror, the tool she needed to properly keep her mind and powers tamed. The day she stripped herself of her own feelings, the only thing that made her human...her emotions.

_'Yesss, let yourself feel the rage, the sorrow, the joy, all of it!'_ it encouraged. _'Let them come to you, the mirror is obsolete! Your emotions are yours to control, to feel, to use! Not by some vanity object!'_

_'I'm...I'm frightened,'_ Raven admitted, shaking from head to toe.

_'Good, that means you already have accepted them...keep it open! Let yourself be you!'_ the voice said.

Hesitantly...she did as the voice wanted. She opened herself up and let down the mental barriers she spent her entire life building, and then her vision when black. When her vision returned, she was within her mindscape. Floating above her were her emoticons, all of them holding hands and gazing down at her with solemn expressions.

"H-How? I didn't use my mirror..." Raven awed.

"Because you have allowed yourself to open up to us," the voice said.

Raven jerked her head to her right and coming toward her was an emoticon she was not familiar with. This emoticon was dressed like herself, only the coloration was different than any of her other emoticons. This one's clothing was entirely black and face completely concealed in shadow.

"Which representation are you?" Raven demanded softly.

_"Your darkness,"_ the revealed emoticon. _"I was the first representation the monks ripped from you and shoved into the deepest part of your psyche. They feared me the most as they believed I would be the one that would lead you quicker to fulfill your destiny they foresaw."_ She walked up to Raven and even with the close distance her face was still hidden in the shadow of her hood. The emoticon pointed up at the red emoticon that had given Raven the most problems. _"That one was the one they should have been more concerned with...as your father was a demon of pure hatred."_

"You mean, if that emotion had been sealed away instead of you...I could have avoided his influence?" Raven gasped in astonishment.

_"Yes, but those fools believed on principle I was the most dangerous one, and that your hatred could easily be dealt with, not so,"_ the dark emoticon replied. _"Had you been whole, had we all been with you, you could have overpowered your father much easier."_

Raven was at a lost now. This whole time, her faith, her teachings with the monks...were all a lie. They purposely fractured her mind to lessen her powers and keep her as near harmless as they could. What's worst the more she thought about it was her own mother had known and allowed it to happen...

"I've...I've been used by both my parents," Raven mourned sadly.

The dark emoticon placed a very pale hand on her shoulder. _"Yes, but now...we can mend their meddling."_

"H-How? I don't know what to do anymore..." Raven cried, leaning into the hand.

_"You will, Raven. Once you've taken us back into you, make yourself whole once more, then you will know what to do and where your true path lies..."_ the dark emoticon said, grasping her chin and making her look to the left.

As she did, an image appeared. In it was Robin in his new suit baring down his wrath on the criminal that had hounded them since they first formed as a team.

_"Wherever he goes, you must follow. Your fate lies with him, Raven. Your combined darkness will bring a change to this world and to all around you that will forever alter the fate of existence,"_ the dark emoticon stated with a firm, righteous tone. _"...You must aid him and guide him down this path, Raven. Only your love can keep him from becoming another demon like your father...and only then can you seek your vengeance on those that had wronged you."_

"Vengeance? I don't wish to seek vengeance on anyone," Raven declared.

_"But you will, once you are made whole will you see the clear picture,"_ the dark emoticon replied, she waved her hand and another image showed itself before them, one with the surviving spirits of the Azarathians and her mother. _"You must show them the error they made by alienating you, by placing false judgment on you without true proper cause! They must be called forth to answer for their sins, and you will feel this drive, Raven. You will know it is true....now accept us, all of us and make us whole once more!"_

Raven hesitated. This was her chance to be whole, to be complete after all the years she fought to tame her destructive powers. It was all she had ever dreamed of, but her fear of what she would become halted her from taking that final step. Her darkest emoticon had admitted she would seek revenge on the people she thought protected and cared for her. She would hate her own mother...but then what did she really feel for her mother now? A longing hope to receive the recognition she so longed from her? That was it, just hope, nothing more...anything else that she could have felt for her mother was denied her by that woman and her own people.

_"Exactly, Raven,"_ the dark emoticon whispered softly to her, placing a comforting hand on her cheek. _"This is what they robbed you, what they've made you into...a hollowed shell. But you have him to thank..." _the dark emoticon pointed back at the image of Robin. _"Since you've been around him, that tempered control they placed into you has weakened, you been able to feel us, Raven. He is the one that always been there by you, always ready to forsake everything for you...embrace us and you can understand just what that devotion really means."_

"...I can feel love?" Raven murmured in awe.

_"And more...but you must let yourself feel again,"_ the dark emoticon said, stepping back from her. _"You have to open yourself to us."_ She reached into her black cloak and to Raven's surprise withdrew her mirror.

"My mirror!" Raven cried. "How is it here?"

_"This mirror is a part of you, Raven, and thus no matter where it is in the world, in your mindscape, it's still connected to you,"_ the dark emoticon said, handing her the mirror. _"This is your chance to be free, Raven, or continue your existence they way you were taught. That's it, Raven...now chose."_

Raven gingerly took her mirror from the emoticon's hand, caressing it and hugging it to her chest. This was her center, her only way to control her powers and be safe to everyone around her. She had depended on this mirror for so long...Then realization dawned on her. She relied too much on her mirror; she always was open-minded to new knowledge and spells. But at every turn she would pull back to the teachings the monks and her mother had engrained into her and her situation never changed.

She tightened her hold on the mirror and looked down at the rocky ground, finding a huge one just lying by her feet. "No more...I can't stand being this way anymore...Whatever becomes of me, at least it was by my own choosing!" She gripped the mirror in her right hand, glaring down at the rock. "I will be free!!"

With all her might, she brought the mirror down over the rock and it shattered into dozens of fragments. As the fragments fell around the rock and onto the ground, energy exploded from the spot and the fragments turned to dust and were lost in a gust of wind.

_"You have chosen us, Raven,"_ the dark emoticon said with approval. _"And we shall always be there for you, now and forever."_

The dark emoticon then floated up to join the other emoticons' circle and Happiness and Hatred opened their hands to allow the Dark one to enter, taking their hands into hers and soon floated in unison with them. They all opened their eyes, revealing glowing pools of white, red, and blackness. Their rotation began to move faster and faster above Raven and then Timid and Bravery released their hold on one another, breaking the circle. The dark emoticon then dived straight at Raven, pulling the other emoticons in with her and arrow shot straight down on her. Raven closed her eyes and waited in acceptance as the emoticons bombarded down right into her. As they neared her, their physical bodies became transparent like a ghost just before they were all absorbed through the red gem on her forehead.

Then Raven opened her eyes and she had returned to the construction site.

Her eyes, once cold orbs of amethyst, were swimming with raw emotions. Her stoic face cracked completed when a wicked smile stretched up as she slowly stood up. "I can see things so clearly now...what a fool I have been."

She sighed as the last weight around her mentality shattered and for once she felt completely light, as if she no longer had anything holding her down, which she now understood had been the chase her whole life. Now she was free, truly free...and once her chosen man finished off his most hated enemy, she would reward him for his solid devotion to her.

She gazed possessively at her Robin and swayed her body in anticipation, then whispered to herself as she licked her lips. "Mmm, yes, my Robin. Finish him for me...and then we can begin our destiny together."

She grinned more and more as the screams grew louder and louder.

* * *

Finally, Robin stopped his vicious lashing and with one last lash, he wrapped the crackling whip around the burnt and bleeding mastermind's neck, the energy, slowly melting and burning through his neck.

"Any last words?" Robin hissed darkly.

"G-Go to hell," Slade managed to snarl at him.

"Fine, but you'll beat me there," Robin answered coldly, and then he set the whip on maximum and the electricity started cooking Slade as it heated his armor. The Surgical Drones that were still in his flesh exploded from the electricity running through his body, but this added to the villain's pain as they left sharp pieces of shrapnel in his flesh. Underneath his mask, Robin was smiling in triumphant madness as he watched his arch-nemesis wither in so much agony at his feet. His eyes glazed over as a haze of madness filled them and he soon was laughing once more, and then he pulled his wrist back sharply and the whip ripped Slade's head right off from his body, rolling through the air and landed right at his feet. He kneeled down to pick up the dismembered head. He raised the head to his face and stared at it with mixed horror and fascination, then ripped off the mask, revealing a man with white hair, chiseled features, and an eye patch over his right eye, his remain dull blue eye was wide from pain and actually blinked at him before it froze as the head died.

"So, this was what you looked like..." Robin grinned madly. "You looked better this way...dead. _AHAHAHAHAHA!!!_"

He suddenly stopped when he heard another voice laughing almost as insanely as he was. He dropped the head and cracked the whip once threatening. "Show yourself, now!"

The laughter continued as Raven stepped out from her hiding place. She smiled at Robin in a way that made his skin shiver. "Just me, Robin."

Robin dropped his weapon and slowly started backing away from her. "R-Raven...I---I didn't want you to see this!" Even with the voice-distorter, there was a lace of fear.

"But I did see it, Robin," Raven replied, sauntering over to him. "And I liked what I saw..."

"Y-you did?" Robin gaped in amazement, blinking in confusion.

She nodded and placed a hand on his chest, leaning her petite frame against his. "I also know why you did it..."

To his shock, she met his gaze and he saw so much heat and emotion from her eyes. "Raven? What happened to you? You're...affectionate."

"A lot has happened, Robin...I'm free. I'm finally free from that accursed mirror!" Raven exclaimed in joy, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Now, I can feel what I wish, do what I wish, my life is truly my own." She reached up with her hands and clasped them around his face. "And I know exactly how I want to live it...with you."

"Raven..." Robin said in a hush voice. "I...I..."

Raven shushed him with a finger on his mask. "Shut up and take the mask off, now."

"Uh, right!" Robin said quickly, then removed the death's-head mask, revealing his handsome face and a set of bright, sharp blue eyes that shined with so much raw emotion.

Raven was in awe. This was the first time she ever seen his eyes and knew instantly he was baring everything to her through those beautiful eyes, just from the intense look he gaze at her with. Her feelings blazed and she almost freaked, expecting everything to start exploding or melting into puddles of scrap...but nothing happened. Everything was fine. Her powers remained under control and her chest was pulsing with desire and love for Robin. She did not trust her own voice at that moment, but she so longed to tell him how much she really meant to him. As if knowing her wish, Robin smiled at her and cupped her chin right as he leaned down and kissed her lips.

Her head soared into the heavens as her body buzzed with delight from her first kiss. So happy that it was him and that he accepted her, all of her. Eagerly, she deepened the kiss and hugged herself against him, completely submitting herself into his embrace. The kiss came to an end but the look in their eyes promised there would be more of it and very soon.

Robin gazed down at the remains of his arch-nemesis and smirked. "...Maybe I shouldn't have killed him."

Raven gave him a sharp look, wondering why he was smirking. "Now you're regretting doing that?"

"Oh, I have no regrets about killing him, Raven," Robin replied as his smirk grew. "It's just had I known you liked the show, I would have let you torture him more before I killed him."

"Thoughtful," Raven smiled seductively at him. "But I think I know a way you can make it up to me..."

Robin returned his gaze to hers and his own lit up with desire. "I will definitely make it up to you...but first..." He reluctantly released Raven and walked over to the mangled corpse. "We need to get rid of this trash and the evidence. The others wouldn't understand why this needed to be done."

Raven agreed and her eyes shined white before mixing into a blood red as she picked up the corpse and its detached head. "Let's hurry then before they come looking for us."

Robin looked around the site and soon found a few barrels of oil. Quickly, he poured the contents on the ground, telling Raven to place the remains in the pool of oil, then he used his Shock-Whip to set the oil ablaze and instantly the body of Slade as consumed by fire and explosions as the other barrels ignited from the heat and added to the small inferno her made. Soon the fire would burn away any evidence of his drones as they weren't designed to withstand that kind of heat, and it would reduce the villain's remains to ash and melted metal, leaving hardly any chance of identification. He watched on with great satisfaction as the flames grew, the fire reflecting in his eyes as he slowly starting laughing psychotically. Raven moved up beside him and snuggled herself against him, wrapping her arms around his neck affectionately as she started laughing with him, thrilled with how good it felt and made her crave for more stimulations.

She caressed his neck to get his attention, making him looked at her. "We need to return to the tower..._Your_ Starfire will miss you if you're gone too long from her sight."

Robin easily caught the sarcasm and heated jealousy in her voice. He wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her and kissed her with even more passion than their first kiss. When she sagged into his arms and moaned blissfully, he pulled back and gazed deeply into her eyes.

"I do love that girl, but she's in a part of my heart. You, you are in my soul, my entire being, Raven. I'd do anything for you...kill for you. Oh, wait, I already have…_hehehehe_," Robin snickered insanely.

"So...you'll really do anything?" Raven questioned with a teasing look. Her cloak floated up and the two were enveloped in her soulself. She soared them both back to the tower, more precisely, her room. She positioned them at the foot of her bed and pushed Robin onto it and straddled his waist. "I want to play now, I wanna feel good..."

"Then we shall, my lady of the midnight," Robin said as he smiled charmingly up at her.

* * *

He started undoing his costume, with the help of a needy Raven, who was more or less ripping his new costume off his body and throwing it randomly around the bed. The first was his belt and next his gloves, and then soon his shirt. In a bold move, he ran his hands right up her smooth legs, digging his thumbs into her inner thighs as his hands got closer to her hips. The action produced a husky moan from Raven and she shook with pleasure all over.

"God, I've wanted to touch those legs for so long," he sighed in satisfaction, as he ran them down her legs, then quickly back up them to greet her hips, relishing in how firm and soft they felt.

"Then feel them all you want...feel any part you want," she said seductively as she undid her cloak and ran a black glowing fingernail down from her neck to the center of her chest. Where her nail touch, the leotard sliced opened to expose her entire cleavage for view. "I'm all yours..."

His eyes flowed down to her cleavage and the desire in his eyes burned even brighter. Licking his lips hungrily, he sat up and lashed out at the exposed flesh with his tongue and teeth, dragging them up and down the valley of her chest. This made her rock against him, grinding her groin over his and making her grab his head to pull closer to her chest.

"Yes! Oh, fuck yes!" she moaned, not caring at all that she just cursed.

It actually turned Robin on more when she did and it revealed itself when his pants grew unbearably uncomfortable. This quickly became known to Raven, who was practicing riding herself over the hard bulge in his pants. She smirked down at her as she began rolling her hips over that bulge, letting out a small moan as the motion sent growing warmth throughout her body. He took that opportunity to open the front of her leotard further to give him a complete view of her perky breasts and dark nipples. Hungrily, he latched his mouth over her left breasts, suckling as much as he could into his mouth while twirling his tongue over her captured nipple. She gasped huskily and clawed her fingers through his spiky hair, arching her chest into his face. He took her other breast into his hand, loving how it fit just right in his grasp, and rotated it some as he pinched the nipple with his thumb and index finger. This action proposed a deeper moan from the empath, melting submissively under his touch.

"More, I need more!" she pleaded huskily, digging her nails into his scalp.

He hissed from the pain as her nails cut into his flesh, accidentally making him flinch and bite down on her breast. He must have bitten down too hard because his mouth was suddenly filled with a coppery taste. At first he was about to stop and apologize and pray she didn't blast him into oblivion, but then to his delight, she gasped out his name lustfully and his lap suddenly felt wet and really hot..

"Wow, I never knew you were a masochist," he said heatedly, after he swallowed her blood and licked his red lips, instantly addicted to the taste of her blood.

Raven buckled on top of him as she came down from her unexpected climax, clinging to him for support until she could feel her lower regions again. "...I-I never knew either," she panted weakly, then rubbed herself against him, mashing her bleeding breast over his toned chest and hissing in joy as the action made her breast sting and feel good. "...But I think I liked it."

Robin smirked wickedly and put that little bit of information for another time. Right now, he planned to explore his lover's body and made her crave no one else's touch but his. She was his now, that unplanned bite on her breast would be his claim on her and his alone. He clasped her hips and gazed up into her lust-filled eyes. She in return caressed her hands over his now bloody chest.

"Do more...make me completely yours," she demanded, giving him permission to do whatever he pleased to her.

His eyes burned with raw need. Quickly as he could, he rolled them around to pin Raven down on the bed with his hips. With one hand, he ripped away her leotard to completely expose her to him. His eyes wondered over her naked body, drinking every detail of her pale, exotic body. He found her leotard hadn't done her justice. Her body was curvier than her cloak led anyone to believe and he was mildly amused to see her cleanly shaven, giving him a clear view of the dark folds waiting for attention.

"Beautiful, just absolutely beautiful," he said endearingly, ending his wandering look on her eyes.

She unconsciously started to try and cover herself from his intense gaze, but his hands stopped her.

"No, never be ashamed, Raven. You really have a gorgeous body, a temple of divine beauty," he whispered to her heatedly.

"R-Really?" she awed, looking up at him nervously.

"Oh yeah...and I'm just itching to raid and worship it," he stated, smiling down lustfully.

Feeling her stomach flop wildly with butterflies, she forced her body to relax and widened her legs as she raised her arms above her head. "Go ahead...ravish me."

He could not yank off his pants fast enough. Once he was free of the now bothersome thing, he started positioning himself between her legs, stroking himself above her entrance. He gave her one last look and seeing no hesitation in them, he angled himself, pushing just the head of him into her wet, hot folds, and then leaned down to rest on top of her body and kissed her deeply. She moaned into the kiss and let hers wrap around his back, arching her hips up to feel him of him enter her.

"Don't tease me, Robin! I need you so badly now...don't hold back!" she growled in frustration when he wouldn't go any further.

"Just wanted to get you ready...but." He tensed his muscles and with one smooth hard thrust, he pushed his entire length into her needy body.

Raven screamed out sharply as her virginity was ripped away unmercifully and soon was gasping as she nearly came once more from the penetration. "Oh, f-fuck!"

Hearing her curse once more turned him on more and he grinned viciously as his hips began moving and slamming into her quaking hips. "Oh, yes!" he moaned, trying to control himself to keep from ending the moment prematurely.

He tried to go slow and sensual to help last longer, but Raven turned out to be a needy lover. She kept moaning for him to go harder, having wrapped her long legs around his waist and tried to force his hips to move faster. So he obliged and stopped worrying about being a gentleman and let himself be an animal. He smashed his lips against her moaning pale lips as he started using more force. The swear words came pouring out of her along with her gasping moans of pleasure. Those flow of words never stopped coming out from and it soon dawned on him that Raven was letting out everything she held back in her lust-crazed mood. Every emotion and every action she had to inhibit herself from doing was now all coming out of her in this blissful moment. He hugged her close to him, letting her scream out what she needed to, biting and kissing at her neck and shoulder. At some point, he felt pain all along his back but didn't stop, as he knew what was doing it; her nails. She was clawing up his back in mad passion. They rolled around on the bed, trying to find a better angle to intensify the pleasure, clawing and kissing and biting each other more and more. Then it finally came to an end as the two ravaging Titans came together in one glorious, roaring climax.

Robin rolled onto his back, gasping heavily want waiting for his vision to return. Raven purred next to him, cradling her body against his and resting her head on his bloody chest, licking it some and then sighing in content.

"That...was wild," Robin breathed happily, swiping the sweat and blood off his forehead.

Raven smiled and hugged him, and spoke with a raspy voice that she wore out from all the screaming and cursing she had done. "...Oh yeah."

He kissed the top of her head and stroked her back. "God, we should have killed Slade a long time ago."

"Yeah, we should have," Raven agreed, running an idle finger up and down his abdomen. "He caused nothing but trouble for all of us."

"...He wasn't the only one," Robin said grimly.

"What?" Raven uttered, looking up at him.

"Every villain and criminal we've dealt with has been a problem to not just us, but everyone," Robin said, gazing at her with dark look. "We've allowed too many of them to get away without proper punishment."

"Robin," Raven sat up, wrapping her body up with her ruined, stained sheets. "You do know what you're saying right?"

Robin nodded solemnly, grimacing more. "I do, Raven...Slade was terror to everyone, but he wasn't the only one. There are more out there that are getting away scot-free ruining people's lives without a single thought. All we've done is knocked them around and throw them in a prison that never can hold them for long. They always break out or the system grants them a pardon because they're insane and don't know any better." He tightened his fists until his knuckles turned white. "It won't ever end! They'll continue to terrorize innocent people and reap on their remains. I cannot allow another Slade to harm another person...even if that means...turning into something terrible."

He expected Raven to begin ranting at him about how wrong he just sounded. He thought she'd get angry and start accusing him of ruining whatever hope they might have had being together. But then to his amazement, she smiled at him as her eyes flashed a dull red and she pounced on him, kissing him passionately and nearly ripping his lips off.

When she stopped her assault, she licked away the fresh blood leaking from a cut she made on his lips with her teeth, then smiled madly. "No matter what you have to become, Robin, I'll be there to aid you. I'll help you." she kissed him again. "Love you," She stroked his chest. "...kill for you." Her eyes shone with an evil glint.

Somewhere in a seemingly endless void, a dark shadow gazed with amusement at the tableau in front of it. _"And so it begins."_

**End Chapter 1**

* * *

End Notes: Yes, it begins . . . and things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. Of course, people are going to start noticing sooner or later. Sides will be taken, friendships will be broken, ranks will split quite violently, and by the end, nothing will be the same. Enjoy the ride!


End file.
